The Rub
The Rub is the second episode of Series 1. Synopsis Working as the Hong's pool boy, Van finds himself the object of Mrs Hong's affection; Pascalle suffers through the indignity of serving fish and chips for a living; and Cheryl sticks up for her fellow supermarket workers but soon learns that not everyone on the right side of the law can be trusted. Plot Cheryl’s plan to march her family down the straight and narrow road has not got off to a good start. There is rebellion in the air. Van is not enjoying working for the Hong family, paying off his debt to them as their pool boy and driver – or, in his words, “a bum boy for the Triads”. Pascalle’s modeling career, meanwhile, is under severe threat. She’s working at the Snapper Shack fish and chip shop, where the fat is playing havoc with her complexion. Even worse, there is no way she’ll ever get the $1500 to pay Rene, her photographer, to finish her portfolio. Worst of all, the money has run out. Cheryl’s job as a checkout chick may satisfy her desire for honesty, but it sure as hell doesn’t pay the bills. There’s only so much mince a family can eat by candlelight because the power’s been cut off, before tempers begin to fray. There is an easy way out for Cheryl, in the shape of $2000 Wolf dangles in front of her. If she accepts the money, she can pay the bills and everything will go back to being alright. Except Cheryl knows full well where the money came from and she’s too proud to fall at the first hurdle. Mind you, her own working life is no bed of roses; not when you’re working at BigFoods supermarket, under the piggy little eyes of Noel Greenwood, the branch manager. Noel dislikes Cheryl as much as Cheryl dislikes him. She’s a stirrer, in his book. And she is a stirrer because he’s a little prick who can’t keep his hands off the junior staff and he needs to be taught a lesson. But, after humiliating Noel in front of the staff, over an issue concerning a roll of toilet paper, Cheryl learns that the supermarket game is a dangerous game, when she is both fired and arrested on charges on stealing $500 from her cash drawer. Possibly the most galling thing about this is that although Cheryl knows she’s been framed – and loudly protests her innocence – most of those around her (i.e. her family) assume she did it and take it as a sign she’s coming to her senses. Then, when a whole truckload of toilet paper is hijacked from the BigFoods loading dock, the whole world seems to assume this is West family payback for Cheryl’s arrest. Cheryl, of course, is shouting her innocence to the rafters, but when she learns that all the other checkout chicks have gone on strike in support of her, she is forced into doing something positive about the situation. She can’t have her workmates not getting paid, on her behalf. That’s just not right. So Cheryl takes Wolf’s $2000 and uses it to buy her innocence. If she can find out who took the truckload of bog paper and return it, then she’ll get her job back and her supermarket colleagues will all go back to work. Pascalle, especially, is not entirely supportive when she hears that Mum is offering large sums of money in return for information. That money would have paid for her photos. Now she’ll have to use more drastic means to get the photos out of Rene. Meanwhile Cheryl finds that the trail of the missing toilet paper leads her to… The Hongs. Where, incidentally, Van has been seduced by Mrs Hong – which could lead to his balls being deep fried if Mr Hong finds out. After paying Mr Hong for the information, Cheryl has her toilet-paper stealing man – Oscar Fusilama. And after a few stand over tactics from Oscar’s auntie, the toilet paper is duly returned. Of course, what Cheryl doesn’t learn is that the whole thing was masterminded, from prison, by Wolf. No way is he going to sit back and let his sainted wife piss away the family business. So things end up where they started. Cheryl’s back at work; Van’s still at the Hong house, doing odd jobs and doing Mrs Hong on the sly; and Pascalle, having failed to get her photos, is still at the Snapper Shack…that is until a stranger asks if she’s a model and gives her his card. Pascalle has been discovered! It didn’t happen overnight, but it did happen! Cast *Cheryl West - Robyn Malcolm *Wolfgang West - Grant Bowler *Jethro West - Antony Starr *Van West - Antony Starr *Pascalle West - Siobhan Marshall *Loretta West - Antonia Prebble *Theodore West - Frank Whitten *Wayne Judd - Kirk Torrance *Eric - Brian Sergent *Munter - Tammy Davis *Glen Hickey - Rohan Glynn *Kurt Walminster - Dane Dawson *Tracy Hong - Michelle Ang *Mr Hong - Trevor Sai Louie *Suzy Hong - Josephine Davison *Noel Greenwood - Jeff Kingsford-Brown *Draska Doslic - Aidee Walker *Mrs Tusitala - Ana Tuigamala *Braelee - Alice Potter *Rene - Phil Brown *Oscar Fusilama - Michael Koloi *Robby - Eryn Wilson Crew Music Trivia Category:Season One